Oculomanual Coordination in Tracking of Pseudorandom Target Motion Stimuli

Oculomanual coordination was investigated in 9 healthy subjects during tracking of pseudorandom motion stimuli. Each subject was required to track visual stimuli under eye-hand (EH) and eye-alone (EA) conditions. Subjects were exposed to 3 types of mixed sinusoidal stimulus with varying frequency or amplitude of the highest frequency component, or various degrees of irregularity. Progressive degradation in tracking performance was nonlinearly induced by an increase in either (a) the highest frequency component or (b) its amplitude, but not by stimulus irregularity. No significant difference was found in eye velocity gain and phase under the EH and EA conditions. Eye and hand responses were found to be highly correlated in gain and phase when compared across frequencies and motion stimuli. The results suggest that frequency and amplitude are dominant factors controlling the breakdown of oculomanual performance in response to pseudorandom stimuli. Frequency responses of smooth pursuit eye movements are not affected by the hand motion in pursuit of unpredictable stimuli. Eye and hand motor systems appear to share common nonlinear drive mechanisms when pursuing pseudorandom target motion stimuli.     

Derived Relational Responding As An Operant: The Effects Of Between-Session Feedback

The Psychological Record - Relational Frame Theory (RFT) views derived relational responding as an overarching operant class of behavior. One approach to the analysis of derived relations from the...     

The experimental analysis of human sexual arousal: Some recent developments

Experimental analyses of human sexual arousal have been decidedly sparse. Recent developments in the analysis of derived relational responding, however, have opened the way for a modern behavior-analytic treatment of complex or "novel" human behavior, including specific instances of human sexual arousal. The current article examines some of these developments and their relevance to the analysis of emotional behavior, with a focus on sexual arousal. Recent research that has examined the acquisition of sexual stimulus functions within a relational frame paradigm is then outlined. Finally, a series of relational frame interpretations of a variety of human sexual arousal phenomena is offered.     

Personality and sexuality

Although Eysenck's book Sex and Personality would seem to have broad implications for understanding sexual behavior, there has been relatively little empirical research that has attempted to test Eysenck's theory. The present research tested aspects of this theory by examining the correlations between personality characteristics and a variety of sexual attitudes and behavior in a sample of male Canadian college students. Results were, for the most part, supportive of Eysenck's theory. Extraverts were characterized by a hedonistic outlook on sex and by more active participation in a variety of sexual activities. High P scorers were characterized by more favorable attitudes to and enjoyment of force and unconventional sexual activities. Correlations with the N scale were, in general, not statistically significant. High L scores were associated with more negative attitudes toward sex, and lower reporting for virtually all types of sexual activity.     

Transfer of compound and component solution modes

The present experiment compares the shift performance of four groups on the following types of shift problems: a component problem following a previous component problem with a different relevant dimension, a component problem following a compound problem, a compound problem following a previous compound problem with a different relevant dimension, and a compound problem following a component problem. Facilitation of shift performance was found following prior solution of a problem of the same type either compound or component, while interference resulted from prior solution of the other type of problem. The shift effects are interpreted in terms of Levine’s (1974, 1975) transfer hypothesis and an extension of the attention theory of Zeaman and House (1963, 1974).     

Beyond verisimilitude: A linguistically invariant basis for scientific progress

This paper proposes a solution to David Miller's Minnesotan-Arizonan demonstration of the language dependence of truthlikeness (Miller 1974), along with Miller's first-order demonstration of the same (Miller 1978). It is assumed, with Peter Urbach, that the implication of these demonstrations is that the very notion of truthlikeness is intrinsically language dependent and thus non-objective. As such, truthlikeness cannot supply a basis for an objective account of scientific progress. I argue that, while Miller is correct in arguing that the number of true atomic sentences of a false theory is language dependent, the number of known sentences (under certain straightforward assumptions) is conserved by translation; degree of knowledge, unlike truthlikeness, is thus a linguistically invariant notion. It is concluded that the objectivity of scientific progress must be grounded on the fact (noted in Cohen 1980) that knowledge, not mere truth, is the aim of science.For criticism and comments I am indebted to Noretta Koertge, David Miller, and an anonymous Synthese referee.     

The effects of COVID-19 stressors and family life on anxiety and depression one-year into the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19)-related stressors and family health on adult anxiety and depressive symptoms 1 year into the pandemic. The sample consisted of 442 adults living in the United States who were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Data were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Results indicated that compared to a sample 1 month into the pandemic, participants in the current sample reported worse family health and increases in both positive and negative perceptions of the pandemic on family life and routines. COVID-19 stressors and perceived negative effects of the pandemic on family life increased the odds for moderate-to-severe depression and anxiety while having more family health resources decreased the odds for depression and anxiety symptoms. Participants reported lower odds for worse depression and anxiety since the beginning of the pandemic when they reported more positive family meaning due to the pandemic. The results suggest a need to consider the impact of family life on mental health in pandemics and other disasters.